Ruth C Carlos, MD, MS

Ruth Carlos, MD, MS, FACR, is a professor of radiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and associate chair of research faculty development for the Department of Radiology. She is a board-certified radiologist specializing in abdominal imaging.

Dr. Carlos also serves as the director of research in outcomes and care delivery for the Center for Imaging Biomarkers and Innovation in Integrated Diagnostics (CIMBID) at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

A distinguished leader and pioneer in the field of radiology, Dr. Carlos has held several prestigious leadership positions that have shaped the direction of radiology research and practice. She is the first woman editor-in-chief of a major radiology journal, the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR), which guides the management and practice of radiology. She has served as president of the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS), the Association of University Radiologists (AUR), and the Radiology Alliance for Health Services Research in Radiology. Currently, she chairs the GE AUR Research Radiology Academic Fellowship (GERRAF), a national program supporting early-stage investigators in health services research and care delivery.

Dr. Carlos’ influence extends to national policy, evidenced by her role as co-chair of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Care Delivery Research (CCDR) Development Committee, and she lends her expertise as a thought leader to the National Academy of Medicine, the National Quality Forum, and the Joint Commission. Her wealth of expertise spans health services research and policy, health equity, and structural racism. Most recently, her work has focused on social genomics, the negative biological effects of social and economic marginalization and imaging biomarkers.

Dr. Carlos has received numerous awards and honors. She is an elected fellow of the American College of Radiology (ACR), and the Society of Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT-MR). She has received the Gold Medal from the Association of University Radiologists (AUR), the Distinguished Educator Award from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), and the Stanford Medicine X Research Challenge Grand Prize. A funded investigator of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), she has been recognized for her research by induction into the Academy of Radiology Research Council of Distinguished Investigators reflecting top ten percent of all academic radiology faculty and awarding of the Paul C. Hodges Excellence Award.

Dr. Carlos received her medical degree from the University of Chicago, where she also completed her diagnostic radiology residency. She then completed an abdominal imaging fellowship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She also holds a master’s degree from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan.